My fellow Canadians:

 

In light of recent events, I believe an open letter to Stephen Harper, Conservative voters, and potential voters, is necessary. You want to punish the Liberals? Okay. Have they wasted millions of dollars? Absolutely. But you seem to espouse the notion that everything American is good. Here are just a few recent examples of where you are wrong, why Canadians will not trust you to be Prime Minister, and why you will lose another election if you keep holding to these beliefs.

Over the last few months, my mood is becoming gloomier, due to a disastrous series of judicial and political decisions on both sides of the border.

First the political:

 

The Downing Street memo proves conclusively that the Busheviks, as they are now called in the progressive press, knew about the total lack of connection between Iraq and 9/11, but freely admit that “facts were fixed” in order to justify the invasion of Iraq. So lying about getting a blowjob (or oral sex, if you prefer) where not a single person died, not even of embarrassment, is an impeachable offence---but lying about a non-existent threat to thrust a country into a war that has killed 1600 Americans, wounded 15-35,000 more, killed or wounded 100,000 Iraqis, all based on lies and greed, is barely worth a mention? Where is the outrage, the anger, the righteous indignation, especially in the light of the “president”’s “Mission Accomplished” attitude? Mr. Harper, you said you would send OUR boys and girls over there to get killed, if you were prime Minister? And you wonder why the polls say you are behind not only the Liberals, but the country?

Did you notice that since the re-selection, there have been virtually no terror alerts to manipulate and frighten the American populace? Do you feel safer yet? By the way, for those who support the Iraq war, please feel free to get your kids to enlist in the armed forces to go over there and “protect democracy” or whatever it is you believe we are doing. Quick, before the U.S. draft comes back! Then we will see an influx of able-bodied young Americans who appreciate just how good we have it up here in Canada---unless PM Harper decides to let American “security forces” invade us and take conscientious objectors away kicking and screaming.

Public broadcasting s a public trust, albeit one that can come with a hefty price tag, both in Canada and in the U.S. But the Republicans are now trying to cut funding for PBS, about the only network left that does not kowtow to the right wing. It is another case of a power-drunk political party abusing its authority to silence and quash any voice of opposition or criticism. And Stephen Harper wants us to be closer to the Americans?

 

Laws are being passed that would make it tougher for people to declare bankruptcy and lead to more seizures and foreclosures on homeowners. If one of the Conservative benchmarks is to defend the right to own property, how does Mr. Harper reconcile the almost wilful negligence and failure of banks and government to protect those very same homeowners? And a recent court ruling regarding “eminent domain” allows government, or greedhead developers, to arbitrarily seize homes from individuals. Is Mr. Harper aware of this?

 

Homeland “Security”? A Cessna jet comes close enough to the White House to force the evacuation of 30,000 people and yet the “president” is on a bicycle ride and it is deemed not necessary to inform him. Terrorist Luis Carriles seeks asylum in the US, and might actually get it because, despite his present occupation, he used to work for the CIA. Is there any doubt that our leaders truly live in a world apart from our own, or reality?

 

Freedom of speech? Students can now sue professors for harassment if they disagree with the professor’s point of view. Thank goodness, striking a blow for freedom for all Holocaust deniers, religious zealots and anti-Darwinists. After all, we can’t have too much science interfering with our prejudices, now can we? (Are we still encouraging our kids to seek a better academic future by going to the States?)

 

“What’s good for GM is good for the country”?----In the next months, General Motors will be laying off thousands of workers. United and Delta Airlines are cancelling their pension plans. Over 40 MILLION credit card users have had their personal data compromised in recent months, leading to identity theft and other crimes. Remind us again, Mr. Harper, why big business takes better care of the population without pesky government intervention. Of course, the American government takes great care of its people---with the possible exception of the military (“Support the troops but don’t protect them!”), who are underpaid, under-equipped, and have seen their veterans’ benefits cut when they return home, to less than a hero’s welcome. Let’s not forget the proposed cuts to Social Security, which if the Busheviks have their way, will also be used to reduce disability benefits (“give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses---but don’t expect us to help them”). Is this the example Mr. Harper wishes to emulate?

 

And now the judicial:

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the swing judge of the Supreme Court, announces her resignation, much to the delight of the salivating rightwing nutbars who see their dream of a conservative judiciary within their grasp, along with a vision of unlimited power for the next decade or more. If a suitable justice is confirmed, the Constitution will, indeed, be just another annoying bit of paper, easily ignored if the Powers That Be deem it necessary. (The recent arrests of several journalists who have the temerity to question the Big Lies perpetrated by the administration are more reminiscent of the Taliban and other theocracies the U.S. is supposedly fighting against. The blinders these people have in the face of mountains of evidence to prove global warming, which they still deny, is as unfathomable as it is dangerous and appalling – as they continue to kowtow to, even reward, polluters.) Combine this with the incredibly wrongheaded rulings against medical marijuana and stem cell research, and the prospects for freedom within the US are far dimmer than at any point in recent memory.

 

Our own Supreme Court is far more in tune with mainstream Canadian society (unless Mr. Harper has other plans for that as well…) with one notable exception, listed below.

 

Of course, there is the occasional, albeit less publicized, laudable U.S. judicial verdict. One, the autopsy on Terri Schiavo, which had conservatives positively apoplectic with their hypocritical “preserve life at all costs, except when it comes to the military and poor” attitude, showed that she had, indeed, suffered NO abuse at the hands of her husband, which took the wind out of the Republican sails, if only temporarily. And a court finally found a man guilty of murdering blacks 40 years ago, ignoring the pleas of some to take into account the man’s frail health, while correctly reminding society that the men he killed had no chance to grow old naturally for the last generation. It’s a refreshing change from most recent rulings.

 

However, all is not well in our neck of the woods either---the worst Supreme Court decisions in ages appears to not only allow for private health care, but encourage it. In Quebec, the court ruled that a patient cannot be deterred from having private medical insurance if the government does not cover the service. Methinks that unless Mr. Martin acts quickly and decisively (who I am I kidding?), Medicare could quickly become a thing of the past. And on this issue, I have absolutely zero faith in Mr. Harper and/or his Conservatives.

 

A relatively good ruling, more political than judicial, was the Ontario government’s finally banning of smoking in virtually all public places, which, while perpetrating conservative backlashes against the right to pollute the air and give non-smokers cancer, is a welcome change that just might lead the way for other jurisdictions to do the same and eventually outlaw the whole industry. One hopes that they will also have the courage to legalize marijuana, but given the sudden right turn the American courts have taken, I am not holding my breath [which is now smoke-free, as stated above] for this to happen any time soon.

 

I expect there to be a federal election by the end of the year, but am equally expecting it to solve nothing, other than consolidate the Bloc power in Quebec and further weaken the Liberals, while providing little help to the Conservatives or the rest of the country. I can only hope that if we do have yet another early election (three in five years?), that it be held on an important issue like Medicare, and not a petty ridiculous trifling like same-sex marriage (which, has everyone forgotten, every province except PEI and [obviously] Alberta has already legalized?).

 

I believe that the furor over Belinda Stronach crossing the floor is partially justified, as any MP who deigns to switch parties should immediately resign his/her seat and run for the new party, allowing voters a chance to decide whether they prefer the candidate or the party. But as to the “playing politics” label? The Conservatives (indeed, all parties) don’t really have a leg to stand on, as they would have rejoiced at the prospect of a couple of wayward Liberals swelling their ranks and giving them the clout to bring down the government. How about doling out equal parts of blame? Belinda was wrong to blindly cross the floor and alienate her constituents; the Liberals were wrong to buy her off with a patronage appointment; the Conservatives were wrong to personalize and demonize her. Enough wrongs to go around. There will be an election soon enough, and voters in Stronach’s riding will make their opinions heard. (NOTE: Jack Layton’s NDP comes out ahead as the only party to actually help make the government WORK during this time.)

 

Speaking of elections, PQ leader Bernard (Dirty) Landry decides that 76% support isn’t enough, so he resigns as leader of the party and prompts a leadership race. The rest of the country reacts to this headline with staunch indifference.

 

Premier Jean Charest, meanwhile, when informed that 64-year old Bob Rice was fined $780 by the still-active language police for the heinous crime of having an apostrophe on his sign, chose to do absolutely nothing. What courage that took. What fortitude. What leadership! (Mr. Rice did not even know he had been convicted in court as the government, or Office de la langue française, never informed him.) The absolute unaccountability of the French-language zealots is, sad to say, still alive and well in the backwater known as Quebec.

 

Fortunately, many Canadians have had enough and are fighting back. I personally received a letter from a certain courier company, in reply to one I wrote them a few weeks ago, reminding them that putting French first on packages, notices and phone systems outside Quebec is offensive to most Anglophones. Lo and behold, because of mine and other letters, the company will be changing its tone and appearance, so as to respect the language of 80% of the country! We can win this if we keep up the good fight!

 

My Lou Laurel award is split this time. One goes to Mr. Rice, who has my deepest sympathy and support, and sincere hopes that someone (preferably an English-language lobby not beholden to the Liberals?) will reimburse him for his crime, or fight or appeal the secret verdict and hold it up to the ridicule it so richly deserves. For his determination to stay in Quebec and fight, a Laurel goes to him.

 

But another is reserved for the good people of London, who only a day after rejoicing over winning the Olympics for 2012, suffered a horrific terrorist attack that killed 50 people and injured hundreds more. In the true spirit of Winston Churchill, Londoners have basically said they will neither bow to nor be intimidated by the terrorists’ attempt to disrupt their daily lives---a non-violent but determined statement worthy of hero status. I proudly award a Lou Laurel to every Londoner, and a special one for the fallen innocents, whose only crime was being in the subway at the wrong time.

 

And a very Happy 80^th birthday to my father, who, by the time he reads this, will be the proud recipient of a very personal gift---a CD of my own music, including a song written just for him. I love you, Dad!

 

Your Fellow Canadian,

Lou Israel

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